Epistemological Issues in Teaching Global History

Abstract

In this chapter, the author proposes to address some epistemological issues involved in teaching world history at the college level in Quebec, Canada. Indeed, because of the diversity that now characterizes history classes, but also the globalization of the issues that define our world today, it seems increasingly necessary to approach history from a global perspective. However, this perspective implies a reassessment of the aims associated with the teaching of history, which in Quebec is primarily thought of in a national context inscribed in the heritage of Western civilization. Thus, it raises numerous questions. Among them, what kind of global history is at stake, and how will teachers have to modify their relation to knowledge to adapt to the new program?